The Thirteenth Day of June

The Second Desire of the Heart of Jesus: the Honor of His Mother.

Who can say what the love of the Heart of Jesus was for His Blessed Mother? As God, He loved her as the purest and most perfect of His creatures; He preserved her from, all sin, and adorned her with all graces and virtues. As Man He loved her as would the most respectful, the most docile, the most submissive and affectionate of children. What favors, what sanctity must not the Heart of the Son have communicated to the Heart of the Mother during the nine months He reposed in her virginal womb, and during the thirty years of intimacy which He passed with her at Nazareth! During the time of His public ministry, it was frequently at the request of His Mother that Jesus worked His miracles, as He did at Cana in Galilee, so that the women of Israel, envious of such great glory, cried out: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee" (Luke. xi. 27). In Heaven, He wills that His Mother should be the dispenser of His treasures, the channel by which His graces descend to earth. He takes pleasure in granting the prayers which are addressed to her, and to confirm by miracles the confidence that is shown by her servants. He wills that the Church should have for her the most profound respect, the most tender love, the most entire confidence; He loves to see her name united to His, and when a temple is raised to His glory, it is necessary in order to please Him, that its vaulted roof should give shelter to the humble altar of Mary. Finally, He wills, that wherever the Son is adored, the Mother also should be honored: "And entering the house they found the Child with Mary, his Mother" (Matt. ii. 11).

Christians, if we wish to please Jesus, let us love and respect Mary; let us love her as dutiful children love their mother; she has for us all the tenderness and devotedness of a parent; her heart, like that of her Son, is an abyss of love and mercy. In our devotion, let us never separate the heart of Mary from that of Jesus; let us honor and love them both with all fervor; they were always closely united, let us not, in our affections, separate them. Let us address our petitions to God the Father through the Heart of Jesus; let us appeal to Jesus through the heart of Mary; we shall obtain all from the Father through the Heart of Jesus, and all from the Son through the heart of the Mother. Let us delight to repeat frequently the touching invocation:

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us!

Immaculate heart of Mary, heart like to the Heart of Jesus, pray for us!

EXAMPLE.

During the fatal war of 1870, between France and Germany, a virtuous and only son, when on the point of starting to join the army, placed himself under the powerful protection of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. His good parents had also placed in this twofold refuge their hopes for the preservation of a child so dear, and whom they looked to as the stay and support of their old age. As it always happens these hopes were not deceived. The young man, a captain in The army of the Loire, encountered the greatest dangers: he was exposed to the fire of the enemy’s cannon and saw blood flowing on every side, and yet he received no wound. He devoted himself day and night to nursing a soldier ill of smallpox, and he was preserved from the contagion. In a word, under every circumstance, Jesus and His holy Mother watched over this faithful servant with the tenderest care, and he on his side, in the midst of the toils and perils of war, never failed a single day to recite his rosary. Protected by the Sacred Hearts he returned safe and well to his family. To mark their sense of this favor, the relatives of the young man placed a slab of white marble in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin, bearing in golden letters this inscription: "Gratitude to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who have preserved and restored a beloved son to his family during the war of 1870." Under every circumstance, in every danger let us invoke Jesus and Mary, let us take refuge in their Hearts and we shall always be safe.

PRAYER.

O Heart of Jesus, grant that I may be always the favored child of the most holy Virgin! Inspire me with the most tender and filial confidence towards her, and give me the grace to invoke her unceasingly. Grant that her blessed name, united to Thine may be always on my lips, that thus living here below with Jesus and Mary, I may one day behold them in heaven. Amen.

PRACTICE.

Always have recourse to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, especially when tempted to sins of impurity.